First or memorable platinums / 100% achievements

[Jon Cheetham]

Jay's story on the latest Patreon pod gave me this idea for a thread.

Is there a platinum or 100% that sticks out for you? Maybe your first, or one that was a pain to get because of a particularly elusive trophy?

People obviously run the gamut from no interest in in-game achievements at all, to wanting to 100% everything.

I never paid attention to trophies at all until, on my third or fourth playthrough of Sekiro, I noticed how achievable its platinum was. All bosses and all endings pretty much, no "kill five enemies in three seconds" stuff. Only issue was the Demon of Hatred, a tedious boss that needs several minutes of chipping away. He always felt eminently learnable and doable, but unlike Sword Saint or Owl Father I just couldn't really be bothered. I used an exploit that involved some glitchy platforming and luring him into falling to his doom and that was that taken care of.

That was mainly an excuse to spend more time with the game however and that's still how I treat most platinum hunts now, for example Bloodborne, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, The Last of Us Part II and Dragon's Dogma all of which I got last year. Bloodborne involved going through the chalices and finding a very cool secret boss in there, and for Dragon's Dogma you have to complete it in speedrun mode which was really fun.

[Truk_Kurt]

My first platinum was Batman: Arkham Asylum and similarly to your experience with Seikiro, it was only after completed the game and reading through the list did I decide to go for it, it also helped that I loved the game and its combat system so much that I just wanted to carry on playing with it. That's the rule I have with myself that I will only go for the platinum in games I really love. Arkham Asylum has collectibles which are actually fun to collect with the riddler trophies offering some small brain teaser in most instances so didn't feel like a chore. The hardest trophy came in the challenge rooms for getting 3 stars in all of them and for one of the combo related trophies I remember being quite tricky.

My other most memorable platinum would be Hotline Miami. I don't consider myself to be great at games and I'd always heard about how hard Hotline Miami was prior to playing it, and it was! But by the end of the game I had noticed I had got A ranks on over half the levels without trying much, so decided to have a go at getting S ranks on all levels which I figured would get me well on the way to the platinum. It took lots of practice, but I loved the gameplay so much that I didn't mind and was so proud of myself when the platinum trophy finally popped. Out of few platinums I have it is by far the rarest.

[Miririn]

I don't have any platinums at all... I probably could get a "The Last of Us Part II" one quickly if I spent an afternoon using a guide to get collectibles I missed, because I think that's all I have left to do. All I'm missing from "Uncharted 4" is the multiplayer trophies (I've never played multiplayer, I don't have PS+, and our internet reception is extremely bad). Maybe I should try and get the TLOU2 one so I can say I have at least one!

It would be nice if UC4 didn't require multiplayer to platinum because completing it on "crushing" mode was the first time I had ever completed any game on the hardest difficulty and I felt embarrassingly proud.

[Jon Cheetham]

Agree with Kurt, if I'm going for platinum it's purely an excuse to play the game more and to feel like I've explored and experienced everything, depending on whether the trophies you need are reasonable in what they expect you to do.

Nice one on Uncharted 4 Miri, as I usually go for default difficulty or one under for certain games I feel that personally, going back and putting the difficulty up is another way of getting deeper into the way it plays and experiencing a new side to it.

[Simonsloth]

There are certain games like certain telltale ones where you get a platinum simply by playing the game to completion which sort of defeats the point I think.

My worst platinum was probably fallout 4 which required the residents of one of your encampments to have 100% happiness. I spent so long putting up pictures, filling rooms with furniture and doing all manner of things just trying to get it. Hours it took. I’ll never do it again but I did a little dance when it popped.

[markfm007]

I'd like to get the Sekiro platinum. I'll need to do another full playthrough to get all bosses/shura etc, then grind for skills and prosthetic upgrades. Keen to do former but not sure about the latter.

First platinum was Bioshock Infinite. It was quite fun to get other than 1999 mode, which was a bit of a grind. Doing it without supplies vending machines was easy though as there's plenty to loot.

Most memorable was Bloodborne, very satisfying finally getting to Queen Yharnam, and also the Rakuyo from the real final bosses, the well sharks. I used a cheese strategy there and have no regrets lol. Last of Us 2 was also a good one as I played it on very easy, used a collectible guide and high contrast mode, and took my time to absorb the story. Felt like I gained some appreciation for the game on the second run through. FF7 Remake was also an enjoyable platinum, the VR challenges and hardened mode playthrough were a lot of fun.

[ReprobateGamer]

My first Platinum was a PS3 tech demo called Linger In Shadows - largely a video but there were invisible prompts in it that changed what was happening.

FIrst actual Platinum was in the Prince of Persia reboot game (at least until the DLC came out) - while I prefered the Sands of Time series, I still enjoyed this one (at least until the DLC came out!)

Over on Xbox, I think my first 100% was Crystal Defenders and that was a grind to manage ... not the best tower defense I've played and I have never returned to that game. And yet I have 100% Defense Grid and enjoyed that game and it's DLC

[Rhaegyr]

I've only ever got one Platinum and coincidentally it's for Sekiro.

I just loved the game that much and rinsed it 3-4 times (getting all the endings) that I thought "why not" and did the last few trophies to get the Platinum as there was nothing 'new' left to do.

[Miririn]

Agree with Kurt, if I'm going for platinum it's purely an excuse to play the game more and to feel like I've explored and experienced everything, depending on whether the trophies you need are reasonable in what they expect you to do.

Nice one on Uncharted 4 Miri, as I usually go for default difficulty or one under for certain games I feel that personally, going back and putting the difficulty up is another way of getting deeper into the way it plays and experiencing a new side to it.

I like to replay games over and over, so with stuff like UC4 it was a case of completing it on Normal and then going back to try harder difficulties and to practise. Weirdly, UC4 on Crushing was a lot harder than TLOU2 on Grounded, despite being a much frothier, lighter game.

[dezm0nd]

Not technically in the bracket but reaching the Stampers Forever achievement in Rare Replay was genuinely a thing where I feel like I achieved something.

Not sure what that was. But it felt good.

[Alex79]

I've only got 3 or 4 platinums, and they're all from Telltale games which award them simply for finishing the game.

[stvnorman]

My first Platinum was Rocket League, which just appeared from playing it loads when it first came out! My other one was Day of the Tentacle Remastered, which I assume was for little more than finishing it too, though I’m so useless at those games I probably earned it through all that trial and error! That’s it - not really something I see myself ever intentionally pursuing.

[ColinAlonso]

I've only two platinums.

The first Sly Cooper game is a pretty straight-forward linear 3D platformer. The platinum requires finishing the game and opening the vault in each level. The vaults are at the end of the levels and require collecting the 30 bottles in the level to complete the note to open the vault. As the game is linear, the bottles are easy to collect. As the vaults give additional power-ups, I was opening them when I could anyway during my normal playthrough. I got the platinum 15 minutes after reaching the credits.

The second was Valkyria Chronicles 4. Its not a difficult platinum but requires doing a lot of things post game. As I enjoy the series, I was motivated enough to do so.

Just to note, VC1 was released on PS3 before trophies.

[JadePhoenix]

Definitely the platinum in Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition. It took 350+ hours over the course of 2.5 years, but I loved every minute.

[Scrustle]

My first few aren't that interesting, since they were back from the early days of achievements when devs hadn't worked out how to make them interesting yet. So I have a couple where you just get 100% by doing the basic main content. Like NFS Most Wanted and Oblivion. Some more recent ones are memorable, to me anyway.

Okami was sort of a big one. Mostly because it's one of my favourite games ever, so having done everything is a symbol of commitment to it. But also I got it across two versions of the game. I got all but one trophy on the PS3 version. Then years later the PS4 version came out and they added that to the same trophy listing, so I only had to get the one trophy. I thought that was interesting, since it seems rather uncommon for two releases on different platforms and so far apart to be integrated in to the same list like that.

Darksiders 2 is another. I got all the achievements on Steam with the remaster. For the most part not exceptional in terms of achievement hunting, but it's another favourite of mine so it holds value to me personally. But there is one strange little tidbit about it. I somehow managed to get the equivalent of the platinum trophy for it through a glitch. It's only supposed to unlock when you get everything else, but for me it just randomly popped when I wasn't doing anything else and I still had several others left to go. I've read that some people have bugs getting achievements to unlock, but for me it was the opposite.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is one that I suspect only I care about, but still means something to me. Most of the achievements aren't particularly hard, so I was able to get all but a couple many years ago. But there were a few that always taunted me for years not being able to get. Most of the ones for beating the Kleidos combat challenges. Some of them are extremely hard. Quite a lot harder than anything else in the game sometimes, given how a bunch of them have requirements about beating them a certain way. So last time I played it I decided to finally get them done, and it was a good feeling to master them after so long and clean them away from mocking me in my library. They're also probably some of the rarest achievements I've got too, so that's sort of cool.

Nier: Automata also qualifies, but for less positive reasons if I'm honest. I love the game of course, so I made an effort to get the platinum, which I very rarely do. Doing everything needed was enjoyable, although sometimes a slog in some areas. But it was cool to see all the joke endings in particular. Except one. It was the last thing on my list of things to do, after grinding away at everything else the game had to offer, only to find out that this was the only missable thing in the entire game. And I missed it. You unlock it by dying during a specific and elaborate sidequest that I had already completed. When you get later on in the game you can choose a chapter to play and jump around to any point in the story, but sidequest progress is permanent, so I couldn't do it again. So after all that effort, I caved and just bought that last trophy from the NPC that sells them. I have to admit, I've always felt sort of bad about. I did 99.9% of the work to get the platinum, but not 100%. Feels just a little bit dishonest to a game I love so much. I've always told myself next time I play I'll make sure I do all the endings legit so that platinum is no longer "cheated".

[Jon Cheetham]

Definitely the platinum in Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition. It took 350+ hours over the course of 2.5 years, but I loved every minute.

Wow, that is a journey and a half!

So I have a couple where you just get 100% by doing the basic main content. Like NFS Most Wanted and Oblivion. Some more recent ones are memorable, to me anyway.

I didn't realise that was the case for Oblivion.

I remember Rob Pearson on PlayStation Access talking about "welcome to the game" trophies like beating the tutorial or upgrading a weapon, versus the nightmarishly specific hurdles you have to jump to get the platinum or 100%.

[Gadget8Bit]

I got the platinum on Demon’s Souls.

That. F**king. Pure. Bladestone.

One enemy drops it in shrine of storms 2, hidden behind a wall on the side of a cliff.

The item has a 0.5% drop rate and if you boost your luck stat that rate decreases because the chance of his other drops appearing goes up.

I spent hours grinding him for that bloody bladestone. When it dropped and I finally got the platinum I nearly cried.

[Quiet Paul]

My first 100% was Oblivion. It’s already been mentioned but that is one of the easier ones to complete. Helped by the fact it’s a fun game!

The one that gave me the most grief was the Messiah achievement from Outlast 2. Finish the game on insane mode without reloading the camera battery. Essentially the game is pitch black and your only means of seeing anything is with your night vision camera mode but it uses batteries and when that battery runs out then, in some areas of the game, you literally can’t see anything and if you die once during this, at least 2 hour plus game, it’s back to the beginning! I genuinely don’t know if I’m proud of it or if it just wasn’t worth it. Probably the latter but it is my rarest achievement at currently 0.09% of people unlocking it.

Collecting achievements is something I fall in and out of. I’ll be honest I have quite a few 100%’s on Xbox. If it interests I’ll post it here under the Spoiler heading.

Spoiler: show

Games 100% achievements for:

Xbox 100% achievements:

• Condemned
• Little nightmares
• Little Nightmares II
• Banjo-Kazooie
• Your Toy
• Outlast
• Outlast 2
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Oblivion
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Call of Duty: MW2 Remastered
• Turok
• Modern Warfare 2
• CoD: Modern Warfare Remastered
• SOMA
• Firewatch
• Blackwood Crossing
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
• The Invisible Hours
• Life is Strange: Before the Storm Ep1
• Life is Strange
• Black Mirror
• Gone Home: Console Edition
• The Station
• NORTH
• Bully Scholarship Edition
• Portal: Still Alive
• Dead Space
• Assassin’s Creed II
• Saw
• Silent Hill Homecoming
• DR2: Case Zero
• TigerWoodsPGATour 09
• Sherlock Holmes
• A Kingdom for Keflings
• Terminator Salvation
• TMNT
• Avatar: TLA: TBE
• XMen Origins Wolverine
• Hitman: Blood Money

PlayStation Platinum & 100% Completions:

• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Metal Gear Solid (PS1 & Twin Snakes)
• Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS2)
• Metal Gear Solid 3 (PS2)
• Silent Hill (PS1)
• Silent Hill 2 (PS2)
• Silent Hill 3 (PS2)
• Silent Hill 4 (PS2)
• Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly (PS2)
• GTA III (PS2)


Other:

• Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64)
• Shadow Man (N64)
• The Legend of Zelda (3DS)
• TLoZ II: The Adventure of Link (3DS)
• TLoZ: A Link to the Past (SNES & Switch)
• TLoZ: Ocarina of Time (N64)
• TLoZ: Majora’s Mask (N64)

[Truk_Kurt]

Spoiler: show

Games 100% achievements for:


• Dead Space

Dead Space is pretty hard I heard.

I don't have many platinums but happy with the ones I do which are:

Arkham Asylum, Arkham Knight, Assassins Creed 2, Infamous, Hotline Miami, Velocity Ultra, Uncharted 2 and Twin Breaker.

[Quiet Paul]

Dead Space is pretty hard I heard.

I don't have many platinums but happy with the ones I do which are:

Arkham Asylum, Arkham Knight, Assassins Creed 2, Infamous, Hotline Miami, Velocity Ultra, Uncharted 2 and Twin Breaker.

I honestly don’t remember collecting the Dead Space cheevos but having a wee look at the list again it looks like one of those games you can unlock them by playing the game through naturally once or twice and following a guide to sweep up the rest. From what I can remember the game’s good enough though it doesn’t feel like an effort really.

Arkham Asylum is one I’ve always wanted to go back to. Maybe I will make a point of doing that this year, I loved that game! I think I was just rubbish at timing combos and stuff. Infamous 2 is another one I’ll need to get round to at some point. Too much!